E106MKFD

Photos: http://hudsonvalleyfire.com/apps/public/news/newsView.cfm?News_ID=39
On a side note, Hudson Valley Fire Equipment is a locally owned small business, and is also the Seagrave dealer for the Hudson Valley, and is responsible for making Seagrave return to many departments in the coming future. They are also a vehicle upfitter, and are authorized dealer of Rockland Command Cabinets among many other brands. Their facility is located in Brewster, NY, near I-684 and I-84. Visit them online at http://www.hudsonvalleyfire.com/

This was a 1964 Mack C-95 originially desgnated as Engine 173. When I joined the department in 1972 it was still referred to as the "new truck"...
The very successful C-85 and C-95 were actually based on a design by Ahrens-Fox (Famous for their front mount piston pumpers).
Ahrens-Fox was, at that time, owned by the C.D. Beck Company (Bus Builders). Mack bought C.D Beck in 1956 and kept the tooling for use on their C model. With the pleasing cab-forward design and the Mack ENF 707 Thermodyne engine for a power plant, this truck was an instant hit with Fire Departments across the nation including the FDNY and Chicago F D.
Take a look at the photo below. Does it look familiar? It is actually a 1956 Ahrens-Fox owned by the West Hempstead, NY Fire Department.
Just a little history!

Ugly color but nice !

They previously replaced an engine with the 75ft Ladder

We were neighbors of the Bristol Family growing up, I remember kevin when he was just a little squirt. I remember him as a kid ridding in Peekskill's engine 131 as it carried his father Owen to his final resting place. I have so many good memories of the Bristol family. It's a sad day for the Bristol Family, the Peekskill Fire Dept. and the world in general. Rest in Peace Brother.

Obviously, this guy, along with everyone else in the US, has a right to their own opinion. And I will agree with his original thesis statement, which is that fire men, and emergency services in general shouldn't be regarded as heroes. I could be wrong, but all most everyone I know would say "I'm not a hero". After the thesis statement though, it quickly becomes an opinion piece, either that or he doesn't understand the evidence he's looking at. Yes, the Holland FD only has working fires at 3.8 percent of their calls, but he claims the 3.8 percent actually represents suspected fire too (that total is actually 20.7 percent). He then goes on to the FDNY. Yes they've received a lot more money in terms of funding, but alot of that has gone towards terrorism preparedness and future natural disasters, such as another hurricane sandy. Also, does he realize that the FDNY dropped a firefighter off every engine company? In my opinion, this professor is one of those people who think that if they're not fighting fires, firefighters are sitting around eating lunch and playing checkers, which as we all know is untrue. Also, it may seem that emergency services get paid alot, even though we aren't actively working at emergencies all that much, but as a professor of mine put it "emergency services don't get paid for what they do do, they get paid for what they may have to do."

I think the message people are trying to drive away here are that members have valid concerns and interesting questions to grasp a better understanding on what happened but we should let the dust settle for our brothers before we get into the nitty gritty. The event that we are trying to break apart only just happened a few days ago and the Brothers in Goldens Bridge are trying to piece together all of the events for themselves let alone providing the play by play of the fire in addition to all questions on previous matters of the company and its business. Information is still unfolding and as has been stated that an investigation is still at hand. We are all curious and time will tell. Let us just give everyone involved a break and let them come out on their own. This is no discourtesy to the posters or their questions they have. Like I said these are all valid questions and information we can all record and learn from but some members here just want to see better support for our brothers in their time of need.
On a side note do we seriously have to go down the road of insults and putting barriers between volunteers & Paid organizations? Seriously? members of our own family almost lost it all and you guys pull this card. Lets show everyone in this forum respect since we are "Brothers" in whatever sense that means nowadays. So lets get back on track, let the GBFD guys add info at their convenience and everyone stop being so sensitive!

I think the message people are trying to drive away here are that members have valid concerns and interesting questions to grasp a better understanding on what happened but we should let the dust settle for our brothers before we get into the nitty gritty. The event that we are trying to break apart only just happened a few days ago and the Brothers in Goldens Bridge are trying to piece together all of the events for themselves let alone providing the play by play of the fire in addition to all questions on previous matters of the company and its business. Information is still unfolding and as has been stated that an investigation is still at hand. We are all curious and time will tell. Let us just give everyone involved a break and let them come out on their own. This is no discourtesy to the posters or their questions they have. Like I said these are all valid questions and information we can all record and learn from but some members here just want to see better support for our brothers in their time of need.
On a side note do we seriously have to go down the road of insults and putting barriers between volunteers & Paid organizations? Seriously? members of our own family almost lost it all and you guys pull this card. Lets show everyone in this forum respect since we are "Brothers" in whatever sense that means nowadays. So lets get back on track, let the GBFD guys add info at their convenience and everyone stop being so sensitive!

I think GBFD109 did a great job in giving as many of the facts as he can without getting himself in trouble. *NOTE* The man puts his name on his profile. He's not hiding behind anything...NOT that you are or anyone else is for that matter but he is telling like it is.
As far as disccusing an ongoing investigation into the cause of the fire why in the world would someone want to make a comment on this ESPECIALLY on a public forum like this. He would be opening himself up to a world of nonsense if he did so.
I think what Bottom of Da hill is getting at is the old saying "A Time and a Place for everything" I dont think this is the time and certainly not the place to discuss the problems that the dept may be having internally.
I am postive the investigators (PD, FD on all levels) who are doing the investagation will uncover everything and the facts of what went down will all come out in time. THEN and only then would I think the topic would be fair game for whatever rants anyone wnats to throw out there.

Yeah, it's not a Seagrave.

This is what we are currently playing with at HPN. Oshkosh HT Tractor with Trailer Sweeper/Blower Combo! We call it The Beast!!
(Picture fromOshkosh Airports website: http://www.oshkoshairport.com/en/SnowTrucks/ht-tractor/HTTractorModel.aspx)

You've left out the 3 that are Stamford's real claim to fame and most informative and important shows on TV ...The Maury show, The Steve Wilkos show and The Jerry Springer show!!!

Again like FireMedic049 pointed out without knowing the full extent of the article or incident it is hard to fully respond to a comment like that but many people forget the difficulties of fire operations in a non hydrant area. This time of year especially becomes a hassle to a non hydrant fire because you encounter some back roads that don't get the same plow attention as the main roads, noted water sources are now frozen over making some inaccessible for appropriate drafting, and as always you are at the mercy of your mutual aid and how quickly they mobilize to get the shuttle operation in motion.
Preplans are extremely helpful and when paired with SOP's and practice you can turn a shuttle ops to a bread and butter fire operation. Its easy for these incidents to get complicated due to the numerous variables involved and as we all know Murphy's law when crap hits the fan it all goes down hill. On top of that I think we would all agree the trade of firefighting is a complicated job in general. I think more then a few departments in this county find fires within hydrant areas complicated as well and they have plenty of water at their disposal. Complication of fires in non hydrant districts comes with the territory and you can break down the issues found at these incidents with drills, training, and overview of company/department SOP.
But as I said before its hard to really break this apart without the full view on the incident.

Again like FireMedic049 pointed out without knowing the full extent of the article or incident it is hard to fully respond to a comment like that but many people forget the difficulties of fire operations in a non hydrant area. This time of year especially becomes a hassle to a non hydrant fire because you encounter some back roads that don't get the same plow attention as the main roads, noted water sources are now frozen over making some inaccessible for appropriate drafting, and as always you are at the mercy of your mutual aid and how quickly they mobilize to get the shuttle operation in motion.
Preplans are extremely helpful and when paired with SOP's and practice you can turn a shuttle ops to a bread and butter fire operation. Its easy for these incidents to get complicated due to the numerous variables involved and as we all know Murphy's law when crap hits the fan it all goes down hill. On top of that I think we would all agree the trade of firefighting is a complicated job in general. I think more then a few departments in this county find fires within hydrant areas complicated as well and they have plenty of water at their disposal. Complication of fires in non hydrant districts comes with the territory and you can break down the issues found at these incidents with drills, training, and overview of company/department SOP.
But as I said before its hard to really break this apart without the full view on the incident.

My suggestions?

From an operational standpoint:
TRAIN TRAIN TRAIN until shuttle operations becomes second nature. And not just by yourselves, get your mutual aid partners involved. Train in the summer, train in the winter, train often and make it realistic. If more than a tiny portion of your area is not hydranted you need to be expecting these kinds of calls and preparing for them. Hydrants are (by comparison) easy. Move and flow water until you don't have to think about it.
Ensure tankers are on your first due assignment (yes, even for AFAs) in that area. Then ensure your mutual aid tankers are automatic on confirmation of a working fire.
From an administrative standpoint:
Work with your local zoning board/fire marshal/whomever to ensure that these new developments have a cistern system installed to give you at least a few thousand gallons to start with. New Fairfield did this years ago, at least a 10,000 tank in each new development. If you can't put out a residential fire with that you're probably going to lose the building anyway, but its definitely enough to buy you the time to get a good shuttle operation going with plenty of mutual aid tankers.

Again like FireMedic049 pointed out without knowing the full extent of the article or incident it is hard to fully respond to a comment like that but many people forget the difficulties of fire operations in a non hydrant area. This time of year especially becomes a hassle to a non hydrant fire because you encounter some back roads that don't get the same plow attention as the main roads, noted water sources are now frozen over making some inaccessible for appropriate drafting, and as always you are at the mercy of your mutual aid and how quickly they mobilize to get the shuttle operation in motion.
Preplans are extremely helpful and when paired with SOP's and practice you can turn a shuttle ops to a bread and butter fire operation. Its easy for these incidents to get complicated due to the numerous variables involved and as we all know Murphy's law when crap hits the fan it all goes down hill. On top of that I think we would all agree the trade of firefighting is a complicated job in general. I think more then a few departments in this county find fires within hydrant areas complicated as well and they have plenty of water at their disposal. Complication of fires in non hydrant districts comes with the territory and you can break down the issues found at these incidents with drills, training, and overview of company/department SOP.
But as I said before its hard to really break this apart without the full view on the incident.

My Motorola dealer just told me the Minitor 5 pager is being discontinued, and the Minitor 6 is coming out soon(in a few weeks) , But Motorola is not making a Low Band version for the 6. I really don't care about all these new features, they do nothing for me. My 5 works well, but they are dropping it.... What will depts. do who are still dispatched on low band? I think Moto is making a mistake not carrying a low band pager.

More info here..
http://www.pwservice.com/pagers/firepagers/motorola_minitor_vi_6_pager.aspx
Thanks Momma Moto for dropping Low Band......

From my experience, every time there is a major issue at hand that could potentially be of some type of embarassment to the fire department or the fire district, the commissioners say that it is somehow related to a personnel issue (Obviously!!! How else would the department be embarassed if not by the actions of an individual or group of individuals) and that it must be discussed in a closed door meeting. They then return to the floor and any questions asked regarding the issue are deflected by saying that "it is connected to a personnel issue and connot be discussed for fear of litigation" (exactly what was said in the aforecited article by the Chairman of the Board of Fire Commissioners). Then, if a newspaper or reporter asks any question about a personnel matter, the Commissioners buy time by saying that the reporter must FOIL them. Then after they get the FOIL request, they defer to the same tactic and say that they can't discuss personnel issues.
SO WHY WOULD THE PUBLIC ATTEND? I was a 10 year member of the emergency services community (5 years as an Officer) and it didn't take me longer than a year to stop going to those meetings because all of the pertinent matters are discussed behind closed doors. The commissioners were talking about things that directly impacted me as a firefighter and I got fed up and wrote those meetings off as a waste of my time. Why should John Q Taxpayer feel any different? Just like everything else with politicians, they hide behind smoke screens, generalities, and procedure until taxpayers who have legeitimate questions about their emergency services get fed up and determine that its not worth their time to figure seek the answers that they desire. They then curse the Department, the Chiefs, and the Commissioners under their breath and tell their entire circle of friends within the community over dinners and drinks about their awful experience with the Fire Department (they generalize) and what bad corrupt people they are. Then neither they nor their friends within the community attend, vote, or volunteer (or donate).
I think some people in this business (no reflection on you Bnechis or FFPCogs as I truly appreciate your posts/views) have a tendency to say "why is the public doing this to us?" instead of "What are we doing to make the public think of us in this light?" and "How are we driving people away?" The emergency services can blame the kids who grew up with a silver spoon in their mouths; they can blame the businessmen who have no time for their community; they can blame the economy for creating stagnant conditions that require people to work so hard that they have no time to volunteer; they can blame video games. BUT IN MY OPINION, THEY SHOULD REALLY TAKE A LOOK IN THE MIRROR AND ASK THEMSELVES WHAT THEY ARE DOING TO MAKE PEOPLE NOT WANT TO ATTEND, VOTE, OR VOLUNTEER. After all, how is your retention rate? Most places can't even keep the people that are interested to begin with.
Just like your reputation within the department, it takes 10 "atta boys" to get rid of one "oh s***." Does your organization have 10 equally weighted positive articles published (or stories/rumors spread around the community) about it for every 1 negative article that has been published about it in the recent past. I can tell you with complete certainty that the organization with which I was previously affiliated absolutely does not. The emergency services are not getting a bad rap out of thin air.

They do not attend, they do not vote, they do not volunteer, they don't want their taxes spent on it and they believe that they will never need to call 9-1-1. And as they dial 9-1-1 they pray to god that the PD, FD, EMS are well trained, properly staffed and equipped and they respond instantly.
How often have we heard it took 40 minutes for them to respond (while the tape shows 4 minutes)?
And with the me attitude that is growing, it will only get worst.

As an AIrcraft Rescue Firefighter, let me shed some light to this issue....
Even though it is more than definitely an accident scene, it is ALWAYS a crime scene. When the proper investigation authority comes in (FAA if the aircraft weighs less than 12,500lbs, NTSB if 12,500lbs or more), they're expecting to know abslutely everything about the accident. They want to know what position the throttle was in, which switches were in what position, what you did to mitigate the situation, the size of everybody's boots, what years your gloves were manufactured, etc. Literally everything! It is a crime scene! There are very few exceptions to where you can deviate from the federal regulations regarding aircraft accidents (such as local sherriff or police have authority to remove an aircraft from major roadways before FAA is on scene).
Since it is an accident, the local fire and EMS authorities will have jurisdiction until the scene is stabilized, then command is tranferred police officials once all hazards have been deemed safe and all victims have been transported. Mind you, even though the police have taken over, it's still every agencies' responsibility for the scene and what happened.
Let's look at the Cessna 206 that crashed behind MBIA in Armonk. When the crash initially occured, it was Armonk FD & EMS in charge. Once the fire was out and all vicitms were deemed DOA, the situation was handed over to North Castle PD. However, the property actually belonged to the NYC DEP, so DEP Police guarded the scene while FAA and NTSB responded for the investigation (NTSB always investigates fatal accidents). Once the FAA and NTSB were done, the DEP PD were in charge of the removal of the aircraft remains.
In Short, treat an aircraft accident as an MCI, and always treat as a crime scene (BECAUSE IT IS ALWAYS A CRIME SCENE!). Preserve the scene as best as you can and assist the FAA/NTSB in every way you can.

Found this gem. Its the largest model train layout in the World. Its located in Hamburg Germany. There are some very impressive fire operations as part of this. Even FDNY has a strange roll in it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACkmg3Y64_s
Watch this overview 1st
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvrroMSyKzQ
A Multi-alarm fire in a German Model City
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FLaw4il370
A brush fire in western USA, with FDNY responding
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBbE-zAQ5PE
The US Space Shuttle, emergency on landing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRVE1Xup6g0
Commercial Airline Fire, model response
Enjoy.

1/23/05: Black Sunday Fires - Six FDNY firefighters are forced to jump 50 feet from the windows of an illegally partitioned Bronx tenement after being trapped by fire and without working hand lines. Two firefighters succumb to their injuries from the fall and the others suffer career-ending injures. Later the same day, a firefighter becomes trapped on a staircase during search operations in the basement of a Brooklyn private dwelling and dies of smoke inhalation and third-degree burns.
This tragic day is remembered as "Black Sunday."
Stay Safe

No such thing as "Brotherhood" anymore Chief or at least it's not as prevalent as it was. Guys do nothing but stab each other in the back and turn a blind eye nowadays!

I guess I have a couple of things to say:
1. There are so many typo's in this exam notice I lost count.
2. You DO NOT need a High School diploma OR a G.E.D. ( I guess you don't need one to write the exam either )
3. You can be a convicted criminal and/or a drug addict.
4. You need to lift a 14' roof ladder. ( Who's going to grab the 24' or the 28' for that matter ?)
I'm old school, I admit that. But it's hard to read the exam requirements and not shake my head. I'm starting my 24th year as a Captain. I have been asked many times "what makes a good firefighter?". The answer is: give me a person who played High School sports; who has common sense; and who has a working knowledge of the trades and I'll make you a good firefighter. And that's all I have to say about that.

Proof why you have to try to mediate problems when they first occur, before the blow up to huge scandals like this. Obviously the issue has been brewing since the expelled chief was a captain. Hopefully we all can learn from this, and motivate us to remedy these sort of incidents while they are still in their infancy.